On March 16th, 2018, Oxford University’s Centre for Technology and Global Affairs held a workshop on Applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. In attendance were academic and industry experts, business managers, and government representatives from the U.S. and Europe. r4 Technologies and Palantir – two industry leaders in the deployment of AI technology and data analytics respectively – co-organized the event with the Centre.

The main goals of the workshop were to:

address privacy and other ethical concerns associated with the applied aspects of machine learning technology and Big Data Analytics; and

explore the practical use of AI to improve organizational yield in the public and private sectors in the face of an accelerating pace of change in economic and social structures.

Too often, ethical concerns and organizational opportunities are viewed as conflicting goals. After extensive examination of real-world examples and hypothetical situations, however, participants strongly agreed that the bar of success for AI related companies must be set high in terms of accomplishing both sets of goals simultaneously. Achieving this aim will require important changes in how companies design and implement AI and in how public authorities govern its use.

In particular, two key themes emerged from the workshop:

the emergence of enterprise AI and its applications to government and industry; and

new guidelines and policies to address ethical concerns in the use of AI.

This report sets out the key conclusions and recommendations based on the proceedings. The workshop was supported by funding from Kluz Ventures LLC and r4 Technologies.